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◄ WEBBE PSA ►

PSA World English Bible British Edition (WEBBE)

BOOK 1

1 Blessed is the man who doesn’t walk in the counsel of the wicked,

nor stand on the path of sinners,

nor sit in the seat of scoffers;

2 but his delight is in the LORD’s[fn] law.

On his law he meditates day and night.

3 He will be like a tree planted by the streams of water,

that produces its fruit in its season,

whose leaf also does not wither.

Whatever he does shall prosper.

4 The wicked are not so,

but are like the chaff which the wind drives away.

5 Therefore the wicked shall not stand in the judgement,

nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.

6 For the LORD knows the way of the righteous,

but the way of the wicked shall perish.

2 Why do the nations rage,

and the peoples plot a vain thing?

2 The kings of the earth take a stand,

and the rulers take counsel together,

against the LORD, and against his Anointed,[fn] saying,

3 “Let’s break their bonds apart,

and cast their cords from us.”

4 He who sits in the heavens will laugh.

The Lord[fn] will have them in derision.

5 Then he will speak to them in his anger,

and terrify them in his wrath:

6 “Yet I have set my King on my holy hill of Zion.”

7 I will tell of the decree:

The LORD said to me, “You are my son.

Today I have become your father.

8 Ask of me, and I will give the nations for your inheritance,

the uttermost parts of the earth for your possession.

9 You shall break them with a rod of iron.

You shall dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.”

10 Now therefore be wise, you kings.

Be instructed, you judges of the earth.

11 Serve the LORD with fear,

and rejoice with trembling.

12 Give sincere homage to the Son,[fn] lest he be angry, and you perish on the way,

for his wrath will soon be kindled.

Blessed are all those who take refuge in him.

A Psalm by David, when he fled from Absalom his son.

3 LORD, how my adversaries have increased!

Many are those who rise up against me.

2 Many there are who say of my soul,

“There is no help for him in God.”[fn] Selah.

3 But you, LORD, are a shield around me,

my glory, and the one who lifts up my head.

4 I cry to the LORD with my voice,

and he answers me out of his holy hill. Selah.

5 I laid myself down and slept.

I awakened, for the LORD sustains me.

6 I will not be afraid of tens of thousands of people

who have set themselves against me on every side.

7 Arise, LORD!

Save me, my God!

For you have struck all of my enemies on the cheek bone.

You have broken the teeth of the wicked.

8 Salvation belongs to the LORD.

May your blessing be on your people. Selah.

For the Chief Musician; on stringed instruments. A Psalm by David.

4 Answer me when I call, God of my righteousness.

Give me relief from my distress.

Have mercy on me, and hear my prayer.

2 You sons of men, how long shall my glory be turned into dishonour?

Will you love vanity and seek after falsehood? Selah.

3 But know that the LORD has set apart for himself him who is godly;

The LORD will hear when I call to him.

4 Stand in awe, and don’t sin.

Search your own heart on your bed, and be still. Selah.

5 Offer the sacrifices of righteousness.

Put your trust in the LORD.

6 Many say, “Who will show us any good?”

LORD, let the light of your face shine on us.

7 You have put gladness in my heart,

more than when their grain and their new wine are increased.

8 In peace I will both lay myself down and sleep,

for you alone, LORD, make me live in safety.

For the Chief Musician, with the flutes. A Psalm by David.

5 Give ear to my words, LORD.

Consider my meditation.

2 Listen to the voice of my cry, my King and my God,

for I pray to you.

3 LORD, in the morning you will hear my voice.

In the morning I will lay my requests before you, and will watch expectantly.

4 For you are not a God who has pleasure in wickedness.

Evil can’t live with you.

5 The arrogant will not stand in your sight.

You hate all workers of iniquity.

6 You will destroy those who speak lies.

The LORD abhors the bloodthirsty and deceitful man.

7 But as for me, in the abundance of your loving kindness I will come into your house.

I will bow towards your holy temple in reverence of you.

8 Lead me, LORD, in your righteousness because of my enemies.

Make your way straight before my face.

9 For there is no faithfulness in their mouth.

Their heart is destruction.

Their throat is an open tomb.

They flatter with their tongue.

10 Hold them guilty, God.

Let them fall by their own counsels.

Thrust them out in the multitude of their transgressions,

for they have rebelled against you.

11 But let all those who take refuge in you rejoice.

Let them always shout for joy, because you defend them.

Let them also who love your name be joyful in you.

12 For you will bless the righteous.

LORD, you will surround him with favour as with a shield.

For the Chief Musician; on stringed instruments, upon the eight-stringed lyre. A Psalm by David.

6 LORD, don’t rebuke me in your anger,

neither discipline me in your wrath.

2 Have mercy on me, LORD, for I am faint.

LORD, heal me, for my bones are troubled.

3 My soul is also in great anguish.

But you, LORD—how long?

4 Return, LORD. Deliver my soul,

and save me for your loving kindness’ sake.

5 For in death there is no memory of you.

In Sheol,[fn] who shall give you thanks?

6 I am weary with my groaning.

Every night I flood my bed.

I drench my couch with my tears.

7 My eye wastes away because of grief.

It grows old because of all my adversaries.

8 Depart from me, all you workers of iniquity,

for the LORD has heard the voice of my weeping.

9 The LORD has heard my supplication.

The LORD accepts my prayer.

10 May all my enemies be ashamed and dismayed.

They shall turn back, they shall be disgraced suddenly.

A meditation by David, which he sang to the LORD, concerning the words of Cush, the Benjamite.

7 LORD, my God, I take refuge in you.

Save me from all those who pursue me, and deliver me,

2 lest they tear apart my soul like a lion,

ripping it in pieces, while there is no one to deliver.

3 LORD, my God, if I have done this,

if there is iniquity in my hands,

4 if I have rewarded evil to him who was at peace with me

(yes, I have plundered him who without cause was my adversary),

5 let the enemy pursue my soul, and overtake it;

yes, let him tread my life down to the earth,

and lay my glory in the dust. Selah.

6 Arise, LORD, in your anger.

Lift up yourself against the rage of my adversaries.

Awake for me. You have commanded judgement.

7 Let the congregation of the peoples surround you.

Rule over them on high.

8 The LORD administers judgement to the peoples.

Judge me, LORD, according to my righteousness,

and to my integrity that is in me.

9 Oh let the wickedness of the wicked come to an end,

but establish the righteous;

their minds and hearts are searched by the righteous God.

10 My shield is with God,

who saves the upright in heart.

11 God is a righteous judge,

yes, a God who has indignation every day.

12 If a man doesn’t repent, he will sharpen his sword;

he has bent and strung his bow.

13 He has also prepared for himself the instruments of death.

He makes ready his flaming arrows.

14 Behold,[fn] he travails with iniquity.

Yes, he has conceived mischief,

and brought out falsehood.

15 He has dug a hole,

and has fallen into the pit which he made.

16 The trouble he causes shall return to his own head.

His violence shall come down on the crown of his own head.

17 I will give thanks to the LORD according to his righteousness,

and will sing praise to the name of the LORD Most High.

For the Chief Musician; on an instrument of Gath. A Psalm by David.

8 LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!

You have set your glory above the heavens!

2 From the lips of babes and infants you have established strength,

because of your adversaries, that you might silence the enemy and the avenger.

3 When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers,

the moon and the stars, which you have ordained,

4 what is man, that you think of him?

What is the son of man, that you care for him?

5 For you have made him a little lower than the angels,[fn]

and crowned him with glory and honour.

6 You make him ruler over the works of your hands.

You have put all things under his feet:

7 All sheep and cattle,

yes, and the animals of the field,

8 the birds of the sky, the fish of the sea,

and whatever passes through the paths of the seas.

9 LORD, our Lord,

how majestic is your name in all the earth!

For the Chief Musician. Set to “The Death of the Son.” A Psalm by David.

9 I will give thanks to the LORD with my whole heart.

I will tell of all your marvellous works.

2 I will be glad and rejoice in you.

I will sing praise to your name, O Most High.

3 When my enemies turn back,

they stumble and perish in your presence.

4 For you have maintained my just cause.

You sit on the throne judging righteously.

5 You have rebuked the nations.

You have destroyed the wicked.

You have blotted out their name forever and ever.

6 The enemy is overtaken by endless ruin.

The very memory of the cities which you have overthrown has perished.

7 But the LORD reigns forever.

He has prepared his throne for judgement.

8 He will judge the world in righteousness.

He will administer judgement to the peoples in uprightness.

9 The LORD will also be a high tower for the oppressed;

a high tower in times of trouble.

10 Those who know your name will put their trust in you,

for you, LORD, have not forsaken those who seek you.

11 Sing praises to the LORD, who dwells in Zion,

and declare amongst the people what he has done.

12 For he who avenges blood remembers them.

He doesn’t forget the cry of the afflicted.

13 Have mercy on me, LORD.

See my affliction by those who hate me,

and lift me up from the gates of death,

14 that I may show all of your praise.

I will rejoice in your salvation in the gates of the daughter of Zion.

15 The nations have sunk down in the pit that they made.

In the net which they hid, their own foot is taken.

16 The LORD has made himself known.

He has executed judgement.

The wicked is snared by the work of his own hands. Meditation. Selah.

17 The wicked shall be turned back to Sheol,[fn]

even all the nations that forget God.

18 For the needy shall not always be forgotten,

nor the hope of the poor perish forever.

19 Arise, LORD! Don’t let man prevail.

Let the nations be judged in your sight.

20 Put them in fear, LORD.

Let the nations know that they are only men. Selah.

10 Why do you stand far off, LORD?

Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?

2 In arrogance, the wicked hunt down the weak.

They are caught in the schemes that they devise.

3 For the wicked boasts of his heart’s cravings.

He blesses the greedy and condemns the LORD.

4 The wicked, in the pride of his face,

has no room in his thoughts for God.

5 His ways are prosperous at all times.

He is arrogant, and your laws are far from his sight.

As for all his adversaries, he sneers at them.

6 He says in his heart, “I shall not be shaken.

For generations I shall have no trouble.”

7 His mouth is full of cursing, deceit, and oppression.

Under his tongue is mischief and iniquity.

8 He lies in wait near the villages.

From ambushes, he murders the innocent.

His eyes are secretly set against the helpless.

9 He lurks in secret as a lion in his ambush.

He lies in wait to catch the helpless.

He catches the helpless when he draws him in his net.

10 The helpless are crushed.

They collapse.

They fall under his strength.

11 He says in his heart, “God has forgotten.

He hides his face.

He will never see it.”

12 Arise, LORD!

God, lift up your hand!

Don’t forget the helpless.

13 Why does the wicked person condemn God,

and say in his heart, “God won’t call me into account”?

14 But you do see trouble and grief.

You consider it to take it into your hand.

You help the victim and the fatherless.

15 Break the arm of the wicked.

As for the evil man, seek out his wickedness until you find none.

16 The LORD is King forever and ever!

The nations will perish out of his land.

17 LORD, you have heard the desire of the humble.

You will prepare their heart.

You will cause your ear to hear,

18 to judge the fatherless and the oppressed,

that man who is of the earth may terrify no more.

For the Chief Musician. By David.

11 In the LORD, I take refuge.

How can you say to my soul, “Flee as a bird to your mountain”?

2 For, behold, the wicked bend their bows.

They set their arrows on the strings,

that they may shoot in darkness at the upright in heart.

3 If the foundations are destroyed,

what can the righteous do?

4 The LORD is in his holy temple.

The LORD is on his throne in heaven.

His eyes observe.

His eyes examine the children of men.

5 The LORD examines the righteous,

but his soul hates the wicked and him who loves violence.

6 On the wicked he will rain blazing coals;

fire, sulphur, and scorching wind shall be the portion of their cup.

7 For the LORD is righteous.

He loves righteousness.

The upright shall see his face.

For the Chief Musician; upon an eight-stringed lyre. A Psalm of David.

12 Help, LORD; for the godly man ceases.

For the faithful fail from amongst the children of men.

2 Everyone lies to his neighbour.

They speak with flattering lips, and with a double heart.

3 May the LORD cut off all flattering lips,

and the tongue that boasts,

4 who have said, “With our tongue we will prevail.

Our lips are our own.

Who is lord over us?”

5 “Because of the oppression of the weak and because of the groaning of the needy,

I will now arise,” says the LORD;

“I will set him in safety from those who malign him.”

6 The LORD’s words are flawless words,

as silver refined in a clay furnace, purified seven times.

7 You will keep them, LORD.

You will preserve them from this generation forever.

8 The wicked walk on every side,

when what is vile is exalted amongst the sons of men.

For the Chief Musician. A Psalm by David.

13 How long, LORD?

Will you forget me forever?

How long will you hide your face from me?

2 How long shall I take counsel in my soul,

having sorrow in my heart every day?

How long shall my enemy triumph over me?

3 Behold, and answer me, LORD, my God.

Give light to my eyes, lest I sleep in death;

4 lest my enemy say, “I have prevailed against him;”

lest my adversaries rejoice when I fall.

5 But I trust in your loving kindness.

My heart rejoices in your salvation.

6 I will sing to the LORD,

because he has been good to me.

For the Chief Musician. By David.

14 The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God.”

They are corrupt.

They have done abominable deeds.

There is no one who does good.

2 The LORD looked down from heaven on the children of men,

to see if there were any who understood,

who sought after God.

3 They have all gone aside.

They have together become corrupt.

There is no one who does good, no, not one.

4 Have all the workers of iniquity no knowledge,

who eat up my people as they eat bread,

and don’t call on the LORD?

5 There they were in great fear,

for God is in the generation of the righteous.

6 You frustrate the plan of the poor,

because the LORD is his refuge.

7 Oh that the salvation of Israel would come out of Zion!

When the LORD restores the fortunes of his people,

then Jacob shall rejoice, and Israel shall be glad.

A Psalm by David.

15 LORD, who shall dwell in your sanctuary?

Who shall live on your holy hill?

2 He who walks blamelessly and does what is right,

and speaks truth in his heart;

3 he who doesn’t slander with his tongue,

nor does evil to his friend,

nor casts slurs against his fellow man;

4 in whose eyes a vile man is despised,

but who honours those who fear the LORD;

he who keeps an oath even when it hurts, and doesn’t change;

5 he who doesn’t lend out his money for usury,

nor take a bribe against the innocent.

He who does these things shall never be shaken.

A Poem by David.

16 Preserve me, God, for I take refuge in you.

2 My soul, you have said to the LORD, “You are my Lord.

Apart from you I have no good thing.”

3 As for the saints who are in the earth,

they are the excellent ones in whom is all my delight.

4 Their sorrows shall be multiplied who give gifts to another god.

Their drink offerings of blood I will not offer,

nor take their names on my lips.

5 The LORD assigned my portion and my cup.

You made my lot secure.

6 The lines have fallen to me in pleasant places.

Yes, I have a good inheritance.

7 I will bless the LORD, who has given me counsel.

Yes, my heart instructs me in the night seasons.

8 I have set the LORD always before me.

Because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.

9 Therefore my heart is glad, and my tongue rejoices.

My body shall also dwell in safety.

10 For you will not leave my soul in Sheol,[fn]

neither will you allow your holy one to see corruption.

11 You will show me the path of life.

In your presence is fullness of joy.

In your right hand there are pleasures forever more.

A Prayer by David.

17 Hear, LORD, my righteous plea.

Give ear to my prayer that doesn’t go out of deceitful lips.

2 Let my sentence come out of your presence.

Let your eyes look on equity.

3 You have proved my heart.

You have visited me in the night.

You have tried me, and found nothing.

I have resolved that my mouth shall not disobey.

4 As for the deeds of men, by the word of your lips,

I have kept myself from the ways of the violent.

5 My steps have held fast to your paths.

My feet have not slipped.

6 I have called on you, for you will answer me, God.

Turn your ear to me.

Hear my speech.

7 Show your marvellous loving kindness,

you who save those who take refuge by your right hand from their enemies.

8 Keep me as the apple of your eye.

Hide me under the shadow of your wings,

9 from the wicked who oppress me,

my deadly enemies, who surround me.

10 They close up their callous hearts.

With their mouth they speak proudly.

11 They have now surrounded us in our steps.

They set their eyes to cast us down to the earth.

12 He is like a lion that is greedy of his prey,

as it were a young lion lurking in secret places.

13 Arise, LORD, confront him.

Cast him down.

Deliver my soul from the wicked by your sword,

14 from men by your hand, LORD,

from men of the world, whose portion is in this life.

You fill the belly of your cherished ones.

Your sons have plenty,

and they store up wealth for their children.

15 As for me, I shall see your face in righteousness.

I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with seeing your form.

For the Chief Musician. By David the servant of the LORD, who spoke to the LORD the words of this song in the day that the LORD delivered him from the hand of all his enemies, and from the hand of Saul. He said,

18 I love you, LORD, my strength.

2 The LORD is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer;

my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge;

my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my high tower.

3 I call on the LORD, who is worthy to be praised;

and I am saved from my enemies.

4 The cords of death surrounded me.

The floods of ungodliness made me afraid.

5 The cords of Sheol[fn] were around me.

The snares of death came on me.

6 In my distress I called on the LORD,

and cried to my God.

He heard my voice out of his temple.

My cry before him came into his ears.

7 Then the earth shook and trembled.

The foundations also of the mountains quaked and were shaken,

because he was angry.

8 Smoke went out of his nostrils.

Consuming fire came out of his mouth.

Coals were kindled by it.

9 He bowed the heavens also, and came down.

Thick darkness was under his feet.

10 He rode on a cherub, and flew.

Yes, he soared on the wings of the wind.

11 He made darkness his hiding place, his pavilion around him,

darkness of waters, thick clouds of the skies.

12 At the brightness before him his thick clouds passed,

hailstones and coals of fire.

13 The LORD also thundered in the sky.

The Most High uttered his voice:

hailstones and coals of fire.

14 He sent out his arrows, and scattered them.

He routed them with great lightning bolts.

15 Then the channels of waters appeared.

The foundations of the world were laid bare at your rebuke, LORD,

at the blast of the breath of your nostrils.

16 He sent from on high.

He took me.

He drew me out of many waters.

17 He delivered me from my strong enemy,

from those who hated me; for they were too mighty for me.

18 They came on me in the day of my calamity,

but the LORD was my support.

19 He brought me out also into a large place.

He delivered me, because he delighted in me.

20 The LORD has rewarded me according to my righteousness.

According to the cleanness of my hands, he has recompensed me.

21 For I have kept the ways of the LORD,

and have not wickedly departed from my God.

22 For all his ordinances were before me.

I didn’t put away his statutes from me.

23 I was also blameless with him.

I kept myself from my iniquity.

24 Therefore the LORD has rewarded me according to my righteousness,

according to the cleanness of my hands in his eyesight.

25 With the merciful you will show yourself merciful.

With the perfect man, you will show yourself perfect.

26 With the pure, you will show yourself pure.

With the crooked you will show yourself shrewd.

27 For you will save the afflicted people,

but the arrogant eyes you will bring down.

28 For you will light my lamp, LORD.

My God will light up my darkness.

29 For by you, I advance through a troop.

By my God, I leap over a wall.

30 As for God, his way is perfect.

The LORD’s word is tried.

He is a shield to all those who take refuge in him.

31 For who is God, except the LORD?

Who is a rock, besides our God,

32 the God who arms me with strength, and makes my way perfect?

33 He makes my feet like deer’s feet,

and sets me on my high places.

34 He teaches my hands to war,

so that my arms bend a bow of bronze.

35 You have also given me the shield of your salvation.

Your right hand sustains me.

Your gentleness has made me great.

36 You have enlarged my steps under me,

My feet have not slipped.

37 I will pursue my enemies, and overtake them.

I won’t turn away until they are consumed.

38 I will strike them through, so that they will not be able to rise.

They shall fall under my feet.

39 For you have armed me with strength to the battle.

You have subdued under me those who rose up against me.

40 You have also made my enemies turn their backs to me,

that I might cut off those who hate me.

41 They cried, but there was no one to save;

even to the LORD, but he didn’t answer them.

42 Then I beat them small as the dust before the wind.

I cast them out as the mire of the streets.

43 You have delivered me from the strivings of the people.

You have made me the head of the nations.

A people whom I have not known shall serve me.

44 As soon as they hear of me they shall obey me.

The foreigners shall submit themselves to me.

45 The foreigners shall fade away,

and shall come trembling out of their strongholds.

46 The LORD lives! Blessed be my rock.

Exalted be the God of my salvation,

47 even the God who executes vengeance for me,

and subdues peoples under me.

48 He rescues me from my enemies.

Yes, you lift me up above those who rise up against me.

You deliver me from the violent man.

49 Therefore I will give thanks to you, LORD, amongst the nations,

and will sing praises to your name.

50 He gives great deliverance to his king,

and shows loving kindness to his anointed,

to David and to his offspring,[fn] forever more.

For the Chief Musician. A Psalm by David.

19 The heavens declare the glory of God.

The expanse shows his handiwork.

2 Day after day they pour out speech,

and night after night they display knowledge.

3 There is no speech nor language

where their voice is not heard.

4 Their voice has gone out through all the earth,

their words to the end of the world.

In them he has set a tent for the sun,

5 which is as a bridegroom coming out of his room,

like a strong man rejoicing to run his course.

6 His going out is from the end of the heavens,

his circuit to its ends.

There is nothing hidden from its heat.

7 The LORD’s law is perfect, restoring the soul.

The LORD’s covenant is sure, making wise the simple.

8 The LORD’s precepts are right, rejoicing the heart.

The LORD’s commandment is pure, enlightening the eyes.

9 The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever.

The LORD’s ordinances are true, and righteous altogether.

10 They are more to be desired than gold, yes, than much fine gold,

sweeter also than honey and the extract of the honeycomb.

11 Moreover your servant is warned by them.

In keeping them there is great reward.

12 Who can discern his errors?

Forgive me from hidden errors.

13 Keep back your servant also from presumptuous sins.

Let them not have dominion over me.

Then I will be upright.

I will be blameless and innocent of great transgression.

14 Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart

be acceptable in your sight,

LORD, my rock, and my redeemer.

For the Chief Musician. A Psalm by David.

20 May the LORD answer you in the day of trouble.

May the name of the God of Jacob set you up on high,

2 send you help from the sanctuary,

grant you support from Zion,

3 remember all your offerings,

and accept your burnt sacrifice. Selah.

4 May he grant you your heart’s desire,

and fulfil all your counsel.

5 We will triumph in your salvation.

In the name of our God, we will set up our banners.

May the LORD grant all your requests.

6 Now I know that the LORD saves his anointed.

He will answer him from his holy heaven,

with the saving strength of his right hand.

7 Some trust in chariots, and some in horses,

but we trust in the name of the LORD our God.

8 They are bowed down and fallen,

but we rise up, and stand upright.

9 Save, LORD!

Let the King answer us when we call!

For the Chief Musician. A Psalm by David.

21 The king rejoices in your strength, LORD!

How greatly he rejoices in your salvation!

2 You have given him his heart’s desire,

and have not withheld the request of his lips. Selah.

3 For you meet him with the blessings of goodness.

You set a crown of fine gold on his head.

4 He asked life of you and you gave it to him,

even length of days forever and ever.

5 His glory is great in your salvation.

You lay honour and majesty on him.

6 For you make him most blessed forever.

You make him glad with joy in your presence.

7 For the king trusts in the LORD.

Through the loving kindness of the Most High, he shall not be moved.

8 Your hand will find out all of your enemies.

Your right hand will find out those who hate you.

9 You will make them as a fiery furnace in the time of your anger.

The LORD will swallow them up in his wrath.

The fire shall devour them.

10 You will destroy their descendants from the earth,

their posterity from amongst the children of men.

11 For they intended evil against you.

They plotted evil against you which cannot succeed.

12 For you will make them turn their back,

when you aim drawn bows at their face.

13 Be exalted, LORD, in your strength,

so we will sing and praise your power.

For the Chief Musician; set to “The Doe of the Morning.” A Psalm by David.

22 My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?

Why are you so far from helping me, and from the words of my groaning?

2 My God, I cry in the daytime, but you don’t answer;

in the night season, and am not silent.

3 But you are holy,

you who inhabit the praises of Israel.

4 Our fathers trusted in you.

They trusted, and you delivered them.

5 They cried to you, and were delivered.

They trusted in you, and were not disappointed.

6 But I am a worm, and no man;

a reproach of men, and despised by the people.

7 All those who see me mock me.

They insult me with their lips. They shake their heads, saying,

8 “He trusts in the LORD.

Let him deliver him.

Let him rescue him, since he delights in him.”

9 But you brought me out of the womb.

You made me trust while at my mother’s breasts.

10 I was thrown on you from my mother’s womb.

You are my God since my mother bore me.

11 Don’t be far from me, for trouble is near.

For there is no one to help.

12 Many bulls have surrounded me.

Strong bulls of Bashan have encircled me.

13 They open their mouths wide against me,

lions tearing prey and roaring.

14 I am poured out like water.

All my bones are out of joint.

My heart is like wax.

It is melted within me.

15 My strength is dried up like a potsherd.

My tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth.

You have brought me into the dust of death.

16 For dogs have surrounded me.

A company of evildoers have enclosed me.

They have pierced my hands and feet.[fn]

17 I can count all of my bones.

They look and stare at me.

18 They divide my garments amongst them.

They cast lots for my clothing.

19 But don’t be far off, LORD.

You are my help. Hurry to help me!

20 Deliver my soul from the sword,

my precious life from the power of the dog.

21 Save me from the lion’s mouth!

Yes, you have rescued me from the horns of the wild oxen.

22 I will declare your name to my brothers.

Amongst the assembly, I will praise you.

23 You who fear the LORD, praise him!

All you descendants of Jacob, glorify him!

Stand in awe of him, all you descendants of Israel!

24 For he has not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted,

neither has he hidden his face from him;

but when he cried to him, he heard.

25 My praise of you comes in the great assembly.

I will pay my vows before those who fear him.

26 The humble shall eat and be satisfied.

They shall praise the LORD who seek after him.

Let your hearts live forever.

27 All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the LORD.

All the relatives of the nations shall worship before you.

28 For the kingdom is the LORD’s.

He is the ruler over the nations.

29 All the rich ones of the earth shall eat and worship.

All those who go down to the dust shall bow before him,

even he who can’t keep his soul alive.

30 Posterity shall serve him.

Future generations shall be told about the Lord.

31 They shall come and shall declare his righteousness to a people that shall be born,

for he has done it.

A Psalm by David.

23 The LORD is my shepherd;

I shall lack nothing.

2 He makes me lie down in green pastures.

He leads me beside still waters.

3 He restores my soul.

He guides me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.

4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,

I will fear no evil, for you are with me.

Your rod and your staff,

they comfort me.

5 You prepare a table before me

in the presence of my enemies.

You anoint my head with oil.

My cup runs over.

6 Surely goodness and loving kindness shall follow me all the days of my life,

and I will dwell in the LORD’s house forever.

A Psalm by David.

24 The earth is the LORD’s, with its fullness;

the world, and those who dwell in it.

2 For he has founded it on the seas,

and established it on the floods.

3 Who may ascend to the LORD’s hill?

Who may stand in his holy place?

4 He who has clean hands and a pure heart;

who has not lifted up his soul to falsehood,

and has not sworn deceitfully.

5 He shall receive a blessing from the LORD,

righteousness from the God of his salvation.

6 This is the generation of those who seek Him,

who seek your face—even Jacob. Selah.

7 Lift up your heads, you gates!

Be lifted up, you everlasting doors,

and the King of glory will come in.

8 Who is the King of glory?

The LORD strong and mighty,

the LORD mighty in battle.

9 Lift up your heads, you gates;

yes, lift them up, you everlasting doors,

and the King of glory will come in.

10 Who is this King of glory?

The LORD of Armies is the King of glory! Selah.

By David.

25 To you, LORD, I lift up my soul.

2 My God, I have trusted in you.

Don’t let me be shamed.

Don’t let my enemies triumph over me.

3 Yes, no one who waits for you will be shamed.

They will be shamed who deal treacherously without cause.

4 Show me your ways, LORD.

Teach me your paths.

5 Guide me in your truth, and teach me,

for you are the God of my salvation.

I wait for you all day long.

6 LORD, remember your tender mercies and your loving kindness,

for they are from old times.

7 Don’t remember the sins of my youth, nor my transgressions.

Remember me according to your loving kindness,

for your goodness’ sake, LORD.

8 Good and upright is the LORD,

therefore he will instruct sinners in the way.

9 He will guide the humble in justice.

He will teach the humble his way.

10 All the paths of the LORD are loving kindness and truth

to such as keep his covenant and his testimonies.

11 For your name’s sake, LORD,

pardon my iniquity, for it is great.

12 What man is he who fears the LORD?

He shall instruct him in the way that he shall choose.

13 His soul will dwell at ease.

His offspring will inherit the land.

14 The friendship of the LORD is with those who fear him.

He will show them his covenant.

15 My eyes are ever on the LORD,

for he will pluck my feet out of the net.

16 Turn to me, and have mercy on me,

for I am desolate and afflicted.

17 The troubles of my heart are enlarged.

Oh bring me out of my distresses.

18 Consider my affliction and my travail.

Forgive all my sins.

19 Consider my enemies, for they are many.

They hate me with cruel hatred.

20 Oh keep my soul, and deliver me.

Let me not be disappointed, for I take refuge in you.

21 Let integrity and uprightness preserve me,

for I wait for you.

22 God, redeem Israel

out of all his troubles.

By David.

26 Judge me, LORD, for I have walked in my integrity.

I have trusted also in the LORD without wavering.

2 Examine me, LORD, and prove me.

Try my heart and my mind.

3 For your loving kindness is before my eyes.

I have walked in your truth.

4 I have not sat with deceitful men,

neither will I go in with hypocrites.

5 I hate the assembly of evildoers,

and will not sit with the wicked.

6 I will wash my hands in innocence,

so I will go about your altar, LORD,

7 that I may make the voice of thanksgiving to be heard

and tell of all your wondrous deeds.

8 LORD, I love the habitation of your house,

the place where your glory dwells.

9 Don’t gather my soul with sinners,

nor my life with bloodthirsty men

10 in whose hands is wickedness;

their right hand is full of bribes.

11 But as for me, I will walk in my integrity.

Redeem me, and be merciful to me.

12 My foot stands in an even place.

In the congregations I will bless the LORD.

By David.

27 The LORD is my light and my salvation.

Whom shall I fear?

The LORD is the strength of my life.

Of whom shall I be afraid?

2 When evildoers came at me to eat up my flesh,

even my adversaries and my foes, they stumbled and fell.

3 Though an army should encamp against me,

my heart shall not fear.

Though war should rise against me,

even then I will be confident.

4 One thing I have asked of the LORD, that I will seek after:

that I may dwell in the LORD’s house all the days of my life,

to see the LORD’s beauty,

and to enquire in his temple.

5 For in the day of trouble, he will keep me secretly in his pavilion.

In the secret place of his tabernacle, he will hide me.

He will lift me up on a rock.

6 Now my head will be lifted up above my enemies around me.

I will offer sacrifices of joy in his tent.

I will sing, yes, I will sing praises to the LORD.

7 Hear, LORD, when I cry with my voice.

Have mercy also on me, and answer me.

8 When you said, “Seek my face,”

my heart said to you, “I will seek your face, LORD.”

9 Don’t hide your face from me.

Don’t put your servant away in anger.

You have been my help.

Don’t abandon me,

neither forsake me, God of my salvation.

10 When my father and my mother forsake me,

then the LORD will take me up.

11 Teach me your way, LORD.

Lead me in a straight path, because of my enemies.

12 Don’t deliver me over to the desire of my adversaries,

for false witnesses have risen up against me,

such as breathe out cruelty.

13 I am still confident of this:

I will see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living.

14 Wait for the LORD.

Be strong, and let your heart take courage.

Yes, wait for the LORD.

By David.

28 To you, LORD, I call.

My rock, don’t be deaf to me,

lest, if you are silent to me,

I would become like those who go down into the pit.

2 Hear the voice of my petitions, when I cry to you,

when I lift up my hands towards your Most Holy Place.

3 Don’t draw me away with the wicked,

with the workers of iniquity who speak peace with their neighbours,

but mischief is in their hearts.

4 Give them according to their work, and according to the wickedness of their doings.

Give them according to the operation of their hands.

Bring back on them what they deserve.

5 Because they don’t respect the works of the LORD,

nor the operation of his hands,

he will break them down and not build them up.

6 Blessed be the LORD,

because he has heard the voice of my petitions.

7 The LORD is my strength and my shield.

My heart has trusted in him, and I am helped.

Therefore my heart greatly rejoices.

With my song I will thank him.

8 The LORD is their strength.

He is a stronghold of salvation to his anointed.

9 Save your people,

and bless your inheritance.

Be their shepherd also,

and bear them up forever.

A Psalm by David.

29 Ascribe to the LORD, you sons of the mighty,

ascribe to the LORD glory and strength.

2 Ascribe to the LORD the glory due to his name.

Worship the LORD in holy array.

3 The LORD’s voice is on the waters.

The God of glory thunders, even the LORD on many waters.

4 The LORD’s voice is powerful.

The LORD’s voice is full of majesty.

5 The LORD’s voice breaks the cedars.

Yes, the LORD breaks in pieces the cedars of Lebanon.

6 He makes them also to skip like a calf;

Lebanon and Sirion like a young, wild ox.

7 The LORD’s voice strikes with flashes of lightning.

8 The LORD’s voice shakes the wilderness.

The LORD shakes the wilderness of Kadesh.

9 The LORD’s voice makes the deer calve,

and strips the forests bare.

In his temple everything says, “Glory!”

10 The LORD sat enthroned at the Flood.

Yes, the LORD sits as King forever.

11 The LORD will give strength to his people.

The LORD will bless his people with peace.

A Psalm. A Song for the Dedication of the Temple. By David.

30 I will extol you, LORD, for you have raised me up,

and have not made my foes to rejoice over me.

2 LORD my God, I cried to you,

and you have healed me.

3 LORD, you have brought up my soul from Sheol.[fn]

You have kept me alive, that I should not go down to the pit.

4 Sing praise to the LORD, you saints of his.

Give thanks to his holy name.

5 For his anger is but for a moment.

His favour is for a lifetime.

Weeping may stay for the night,

but joy comes in the morning.

6 As for me, I said in my prosperity,

“I shall never be moved.”

7 You, LORD, when you favoured me, made my mountain stand strong;

but when you hid your face, I was troubled.

8 I cried to you, LORD.

I made supplication to the Lord:

9 “What profit is there in my destruction, if I go down to the pit?

Shall the dust praise you?

Shall it declare your truth?

10 Hear, LORD, and have mercy on me.

LORD, be my helper.”

11 You have turned my mourning into dancing for me.

You have removed my sackcloth, and clothed me with gladness,

12 to the end that my heart may sing praise to you, and not be silent.

LORD my God, I will give thanks to you forever!

For the Chief Musician. A Psalm by David.

31 In you, LORD, I take refuge.

Let me never be disappointed.

Deliver me in your righteousness.

2 Bow down your ear to me.

Deliver me speedily.

Be to me a strong rock,

a house of defence to save me.

3 For you are my rock and my fortress,

therefore for your name’s sake lead me and guide me.

4 Pluck me out of the net that they have laid secretly for me,

for you are my stronghold.

5 Into your hand I commend my spirit.

You redeem me, LORD, God of truth.

6 I hate those who regard lying vanities,

but I trust in the LORD.

7 I will be glad and rejoice in your loving kindness,

for you have seen my affliction.

You have known my soul in adversities.

8 You have not shut me up into the hand of the enemy.

You have set my feet in a large place.

9 Have mercy on me, LORD, for I am in distress.

My eye, my soul, and my body waste away with grief.

10 For my life is spent with sorrow,

my years with sighing.

My strength fails because of my iniquity.

My bones are wasted away.

11 Because of all my adversaries I have become utterly contemptible to my neighbours,

a horror to my acquaintances.

Those who saw me on the street fled from me.

12 I am forgotten from their hearts like a dead man.

I am like broken pottery.

13 For I have heard the slander of many, terror on every side,

while they conspire together against me,

they plot to take away my life.

14 But I trust in you, LORD.

I said, “You are my God.”

15 My times are in your hand.

Deliver me from the hand of my enemies, and from those who persecute me.

16 Make your face to shine on your servant.

Save me in your loving kindness.

17 Let me not be disappointed, LORD, for I have called on you.

Let the wicked be disappointed.

Let them be silent in Sheol.[fn]

18 Let the lying lips be mute,

which speak against the righteous insolently, with pride and contempt.

19 Oh how great is your goodness,

which you have laid up for those who fear you,

which you have worked for those who take refuge in you,

before the sons of men!

20 In the shelter of your presence you will hide them from the plotting of man.

You will keep them secretly in a dwelling away from the strife of tongues.

21 Praise be to the LORD,

for he has shown me his marvellous loving kindness in a strong city.

22 As for me, I said in my haste, “I am cut off from before your eyes.”

Nevertheless you heard the voice of my petitions when I cried to you.

23 Oh love the LORD, all you his saints!

The LORD preserves the faithful,

and fully recompenses him who behaves arrogantly.

24 Be strong, and let your heart take courage,

all you who hope in the LORD.

By David. A contemplative psalm.

32 Blessed is he whose disobedience is forgiven,

whose sin is covered.

2 Blessed is the man to whom the LORD doesn’t impute iniquity,

in whose spirit there is no deceit.

3 When I kept silence, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long.

4 For day and night your hand was heavy on me.

My strength was sapped in the heat of summer. Selah.

5 I acknowledged my sin to you.

I didn’t hide my iniquity.

I said, I will confess my transgressions to the LORD,

and you forgave the iniquity of my sin. Selah.

6 For this, let everyone who is godly pray to you in a time when you may be found.

Surely when the great waters overflow, they shall not reach to him.

7 You are my hiding place.

You will preserve me from trouble.

You will surround me with songs of deliverance. Selah.

8 I will instruct you and teach you in the way which you shall go.

I will counsel you with my eye on you.

9 Don’t be like the horse, or like the mule, which have no understanding,

who are controlled by bit and bridle, or else they will not come near to you.

10 Many sorrows come to the wicked,

but loving kindness shall surround him who trusts in the LORD.

11 Be glad in the LORD, and rejoice, you righteous!

Shout for joy, all you who are upright in heart!

33 Rejoice in the LORD, you righteous!

Praise is fitting for the upright.

2 Give thanks to the LORD with the lyre.

Sing praises to him with the harp of ten strings.

3 Sing to him a new song.

Play skilfully with a shout of joy!

4 For the LORD’s word is right.

All his work is done in faithfulness.

5 He loves righteousness and justice.

The earth is full of the loving kindness of the LORD.

6 By the LORD’s word, the heavens were made:

all their army by the breath of his mouth.

7 He gathers the waters of the sea together as a heap.

He lays up the deeps in storehouses.

8 Let all the earth fear the LORD.

Let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him.

9 For he spoke, and it was done.

He commanded, and it stood firm.

10 The LORD brings the counsel of the nations to nothing.

He makes the thoughts of the peoples to be of no effect.

11 The counsel of the LORD stands fast forever,

the thoughts of his heart to all generations.

12 Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD,

the people whom he has chosen for his own inheritance.

13 The LORD looks from heaven.

He sees all the sons of men.

14 From the place of his habitation he looks out on all the inhabitants of the earth,

15 he who fashions all of their hearts;

and he considers all of their works.

16 There is no king saved by the multitude of an army.

A mighty man is not delivered by great strength.

17 A horse is a vain thing for safety,

neither does he deliver any by his great power.

18 Behold, the LORD’s eye is on those who fear him,

on those who hope in his loving kindness,

19 to deliver their soul from death,

to keep them alive in famine.

20 Our soul has waited for the LORD.

He is our help and our shield.

21 For our heart rejoices in him,

because we have trusted in his holy name.

22 Let your loving kindness be on us, LORD,

since we have hoped in you.

By David; when he pretended to be insane before Abimelech, who drove him away, and he departed.

34 [fn] I will bless the LORD at all times.

His praise will always be in my mouth.

2 My soul shall boast in the LORD.

The humble shall hear of it and be glad.

3 Oh magnify the LORD with me.

Let’s exalt his name together.

4 I sought the LORD, and he answered me,

and delivered me from all my fears.

5 They looked to him, and were radiant.

Their faces shall never be covered with shame.

6 This poor man cried, and the LORD heard him,

and saved him out of all his troubles.

7 The LORD’s angel encamps around those who fear him,

and delivers them.

8 Oh taste and see that the LORD is good.

Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him.

9 Oh fear the LORD, you his saints,

for there is no lack with those who fear him.

10 The young lions do lack, and suffer hunger,

but those who seek the LORD shall not lack any good thing.

11 Come, you children, listen to me.

I will teach you the fear of the LORD.

12 Who is someone who desires life,

and loves many days, that he may see good?

13 Keep your tongue from evil,

and your lips from speaking lies.

14 Depart from evil, and do good.

Seek peace, and pursue it.

15 The LORD’s eyes are towards the righteous.

His ears listen to their cry.

16 The LORD’s face is against those who do evil,

to cut off their memory from the earth.

17 The righteous cry, and the LORD hears,

and delivers them out of all their troubles.

18 The LORD is near to those who have a broken heart,

and saves those who have a crushed spirit.

19 Many are the afflictions of the righteous,

but the LORD delivers him out of them all.

20 He protects all of his bones.

Not one of them is broken.

21 Evil shall kill the wicked.

Those who hate the righteous shall be condemned.

22 The LORD redeems the soul of his servants.

None of those who take refuge in him shall be condemned.

By David.

35 Contend, LORD, with those who contend with me.

Fight against those who fight against me.

2 Take hold of shield and buckler,

and stand up for my help.

3 Brandish the spear and block those who pursue me.

Tell my soul, “I am your salvation.”

4 Let those who seek after my soul be disappointed and brought to dishonour.

Let those who plot my ruin be turned back and confounded.

5 Let them be as chaff before the wind,

the LORD’s angel driving them on.

6 Let their way be dark and slippery,

the LORD’s angel pursuing them.

7 For without cause they have hidden their net in a pit for me.

Without cause they have dug a pit for my soul.

8 Let destruction come on him unawares.

Let his net that he has hidden catch himself.

Let him fall into that destruction.

9 My soul shall be joyful in the LORD.

It shall rejoice in his salvation.

10 All my bones shall say, “LORD, who is like you,

who delivers the poor from him who is too strong for him;

yes, the poor and the needy from him who robs him?”

11 Unrighteous witnesses rise up.

They ask me about things that I don’t know about.

12 They reward me evil for good,

to the bereaving of my soul.

13 But as for me, when they were sick, my clothing was sackcloth.

I afflicted my soul with fasting.

My prayer returned into my own bosom.

14 I behaved myself as though it had been my friend or my brother.

I bowed down mourning, as one who mourns his mother.

15 But in my adversity, they rejoiced, and gathered themselves together.

The attackers gathered themselves together against me, and I didn’t know it.

They tore at me, and didn’t cease.

16 Like the profane mockers in feasts,

they gnashed their teeth at me.

17 Lord, how long will you look on?

Rescue my soul from their destruction,

my precious life from the lions.

18 I will give you thanks in the great assembly.

I will praise you amongst many people.

19 Don’t let those who are my enemies wrongfully rejoice over me;

neither let those who hate me without a cause wink their eyes.

20 For they don’t speak peace,

but they devise deceitful words against those who are quiet in the land.

21 Yes, they opened their mouth wide against me.

They said, “Aha! Aha! Our eye has seen it!”

22 You have seen it, LORD. Don’t keep silent.

Lord, don’t be far from me.

23 Wake up! Rise up to defend me, my God!

My Lord, contend for me!

24 Vindicate me, LORD my God, according to your righteousness.

Don’t let them gloat over me.

25 Don’t let them say in their heart, “Aha! That’s the way we want it!”

Don’t let them say, “We have swallowed him up!”

26 Let them be disappointed and confounded together who rejoice at my calamity.

Let them be clothed with shame and dishonour who magnify themselves against me.

27 Let those who favour my righteous cause shout for joy and be glad.

Yes, let them say continually, “May the LORD be magnified,

who has pleasure in the prosperity of his servant!”

28 My tongue shall talk about your righteousness and about your praise all day long.

For the Chief Musician. By David, the servant of the LORD.

36 A revelation is within my heart about the disobedience of the wicked:

There is no fear of God before his eyes.

2 For he flatters himself in his own eyes,

too much to detect and hate his sin.

3 The words of his mouth are iniquity and deceit.

He has ceased to be wise and to do good.

4 He plots iniquity on his bed.

He sets himself in a way that is not good.

He doesn’t abhor evil.

5 Your loving kindness, LORD, is in the heavens.

Your faithfulness reaches to the skies.

6 Your righteousness is like the mountains of God.

Your judgements are like a great deep.

LORD, you preserve man and animal.

7 How precious is your loving kindness, God!

The children of men take refuge under the shadow of your wings.

8 They shall be abundantly satisfied with the abundance of your house.

You will make them drink of the river of your pleasures.

9 For with you is the spring of life.

In your light we will see light.

10 Oh continue your loving kindness to those who know you,

your righteousness to the upright in heart.

11 Don’t let the foot of pride come against me.

Don’t let the hand of the wicked drive me away.

12 There the workers of iniquity are fallen.

They are thrust down, and shall not be able to rise.

By David.

37 Don’t fret because of evildoers,

neither be envious against those who work unrighteousness.

2 For they shall soon be cut down like the grass,

and wither like the green herb.

3 Trust in the LORD, and do good.

Dwell in the land, and enjoy safe pasture.

4 Also delight yourself in the LORD,

and he will give you the desires of your heart.

5 Commit your way to the LORD.

Trust also in him, and he will do this:

6 he will make your righteousness shine out like light,

and your justice as the noon day sun.

7 Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for him.

Don’t fret because of him who prospers in his way,

because of the man who makes wicked plots happen.

8 Cease from anger, and forsake wrath.

Don’t fret; it leads only to evildoing.

9 For evildoers shall be cut off,

but those who wait for the LORD shall inherit the land.

10 For yet a little while, and the wicked will be no more.

Yes, though you look for his place, he isn’t there.

11 But the humble shall inherit the land,

and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.

12 The wicked plots against the just,

and gnashes at him with his teeth.

13 The Lord will laugh at him,

for he sees that his day is coming.

14 The wicked have drawn out the sword, and have bent their bow,

to cast down the poor and needy,

to kill those who are upright on the path.

15 Their sword shall enter into their own heart.

Their bows shall be broken.

16 Better is a little that the righteous has,

than the abundance of many wicked.

17 For the arms of the wicked shall be broken,

but the LORD upholds the righteous.

18 The LORD knows the days of the perfect.

Their inheritance shall be forever.

19 They shall not be disappointed in the time of evil.

In the days of famine they shall be satisfied.

20 But the wicked shall perish.

The enemies of the LORD shall be like the beauty of the fields.

They will vanish—

vanish like smoke.

21 The wicked borrow, and don’t pay back,

but the righteous give generously.

22 For such as are blessed by him shall inherit the land.

Those who are cursed by him shall be cut off.

23 A man’s steps are established by the LORD.

He delights in his way.

24 Though he stumble, he shall not fall,

for the LORD holds him up with his hand.

25 I have been young, and now am old,

yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken,

nor his children begging for bread.

26 All day long he deals graciously, and lends.

His offspring is blessed.

27 Depart from evil, and do good.

Live securely forever.

28 For the LORD loves justice,

and doesn’t forsake his saints.

They are preserved forever,

but the children of the wicked shall be cut off.

29 The righteous shall inherit the land,

and live in it forever.

30 The mouth of the righteous talks of wisdom.

His tongue speaks justice.

31 The law of his God is in his heart.

None of his steps shall slide.

32 The wicked watch the righteous,

and seek to kill him.

33 The LORD will not leave him in his hand,

nor condemn him when he is judged.

34 Wait for the LORD, and keep his way,

and he will exalt you to inherit the land.

When the wicked are cut off, you shall see it.

35 I have seen the wicked in great power,

spreading himself like a green tree in its native soil.

36 But he passed away, and behold, he was not.

Yes, I sought him, but he could not be found.

37 Mark the perfect man, and see the upright,

for there is a future for the man of peace.

38 As for transgressors, they shall be destroyed together.

The future of the wicked shall be cut off.

39 But the salvation of the righteous is from the LORD.

He is their stronghold in the time of trouble.

40 The LORD helps them and rescues them.

He rescues them from the wicked and saves them,

because they have taken refuge in him.

A Psalm by David, for a memorial.

38 LORD, don’t rebuke me in your wrath,

neither chasten me in your hot displeasure.

2 For your arrows have pierced me,

your hand presses hard on me.

3 There is no soundness in my flesh because of your indignation,

neither is there any health in my bones because of my sin.

4 For my iniquities have gone over my head.

As a heavy burden, they are too heavy for me.

5 My wounds are loathsome and corrupt

because of my foolishness.

6 I am in pain and bowed down greatly.

I go mourning all day long.

7 For my waist is filled with burning.

There is no soundness in my flesh.

8 I am faint and severely bruised.

I have groaned by reason of the anguish of my heart.

9 Lord, all my desire is before you.

My groaning is not hidden from you.

10 My heart throbs.

My strength fails me.

As for the light of my eyes, it has also left me.

11 My lovers and my friends stand aloof from my plague.

My kinsmen stand far away.

12 They also who seek after my life lay snares.

Those who seek my hurt speak mischievous things,

and meditate deceits all day long.

13 But I, as a deaf man, don’t hear.

I am as a mute man who doesn’t open his mouth.

14 Yes, I am as a man who doesn’t hear,

in whose mouth are no reproofs.

15 For I hope in you, LORD.

You will answer, Lord my God.

16 For I said, “Don’t let them gloat over me,

or exalt themselves over me when my foot slips.”

17 For I am ready to fall.

My pain is continually before me.

18 For I will declare my iniquity.

I will be sorry for my sin.

19 But my enemies are vigorous and many.

Those who hate me without reason are numerous.

20 They who render evil for good are also adversaries to me,

because I follow what is good.

21 Don’t forsake me, LORD.

My God, don’t be far from me.

22 Hurry to help me,

Lord, my salvation.

For the Chief Musician. For Jeduthun. A Psalm by David.

39 I said, “I will watch my ways, so that I don’t sin with my tongue.

I will keep my mouth with a bridle while the wicked is before me.”

2 I was mute with silence.

I held my peace, even from good.

My sorrow was stirred.

3 My heart was hot within me.

While I meditated, the fire burnt.

I spoke with my tongue:

4 “LORD, show me my end,

what is the measure of my days.

Let me know how frail I am.

5 Behold, you have made my days hand widths.

My lifetime is as nothing before you.

Surely every man stands as a breath.” Selah.

6 “Surely every man walks like a shadow.

Surely they busy themselves in vain.

He heaps up, and doesn’t know who shall gather.

7 Now, Lord, what do I wait for?

My hope is in you.

8 Deliver me from all my transgressions.

Don’t make me the reproach of the foolish.

9 I was mute.

I didn’t open my mouth,

because you did it.

10 Remove your scourge away from me.

I am overcome by the blow of your hand.

11 When you rebuke and correct man for iniquity,

you consume his wealth like a moth.

Surely every man is but a breath.” Selah.

12 “Hear my prayer, LORD, and give ear to my cry.

Don’t be silent at my tears.

For I am a stranger with you,

a foreigner, as all my fathers were.

13 Oh spare me, that I may recover strength,

before I go away and exist no more.”

For the Chief Musician. A Psalm by David.

40 I waited patiently for the LORD.

He turned to me, and heard my cry.

2 He brought me up also out of a horrible pit,

out of the miry clay.

He set my feet on a rock,

and gave me a firm place to stand.

3 He has put a new song in my mouth, even praise to our God.

Many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in the LORD.

4 Blessed is the man who makes the LORD his trust,

and doesn’t respect the proud, nor such as turn away to lies.

5 Many, LORD, my God, are the wonderful works which you have done,

and your thoughts which are towards us.

They can’t be declared back to you.

If I would declare and speak of them, they are more than can be counted.

6 Sacrifice and offering you didn’t desire.

You have opened my ears.

You have not required burnt offering and sin offering.

7 Then I said, “Behold, I have come.

It is written about me in the book in the scroll.

8 I delight to do your will, my God.

Yes, your law is within my heart.”

9 I have proclaimed glad news of righteousness in the great assembly.

Behold, I will not seal my lips, LORD, you know.

10 I have not hidden your righteousness within my heart.

I have declared your faithfulness and your salvation.

I have not concealed your loving kindness and your truth from the great assembly.

11 Don’t withhold your tender mercies from me, LORD.

Let your loving kindness and your truth continually preserve me.

12 For innumerable evils have surrounded me.

My iniquities have overtaken me, so that I am not able to look up.

They are more than the hairs of my head.

My heart has failed me.

13 Be pleased, LORD, to deliver me.

Hurry to help me, LORD.

14 Let them be disappointed and confounded together who seek after my soul to destroy it.

Let them be turned backward and brought to dishonour who delight in my hurt.

15 Let them be desolate by reason of their shame that tell me, “Aha! Aha!”

16 Let all those who seek you rejoice and be glad in you.

Let such as love your salvation say continually, “Let the LORD be exalted!”

17 But I am poor and needy.

May the Lord think about me.

You are my help and my deliverer.

Don’t delay, my God.

For the Chief Musician. A Psalm by David.

41 Blessed is he who considers the poor.

The LORD will deliver him in the day of evil.

2 The LORD will preserve him, and keep him alive.

He shall be blessed on the earth,

and he will not surrender him to the will of his enemies.

3 The LORD will sustain him on his sickbed,

and restore him from his bed of illness.

4 I said, “LORD, have mercy on me!

Heal me, for I have sinned against you.”

5 My enemies speak evil against me:

“When will he die, and his name perish?”

6 If he comes to see me, he speaks falsehood.

His heart gathers iniquity to itself.

When he goes abroad, he tells it.

7 All who hate me whisper together against me.

They imagine the worst for me.

8 “An evil disease”, they say, “has afflicted him.

Now that he lies he shall rise up no more.”

9 Yes, my own familiar friend, in whom I trusted,

who ate bread with me,

has lifted up his heel against me.

10 But you, LORD, have mercy on me, and raise me up,

that I may repay them.

11 By this I know that you delight in me,

because my enemy doesn’t triumph over me.

12 As for me, you uphold me in my integrity,

and set me in your presence forever.

13 Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel,

from everlasting and to everlasting!

Amen and amen.

BOOK 2

For the Chief Musician. A contemplation by the sons of Korah.

42 As the deer pants for the water brooks,

so my soul pants after you, God.[fn]

2 My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.

When shall I come and appear before God?

3 My tears have been my food day and night,

while they continually ask me, “Where is your God?”

4 These things I remember, and pour out my soul within me,

how I used to go with the crowd, and led them to God’s house,

with the voice of joy and praise, a multitude keeping a holy day.

5 Why are you in despair, my soul?

Why are you disturbed within me?

Hope in God!

For I shall still praise him for the saving help of his presence.

6 My God, my soul is in despair within me.

Therefore I remember you from the land of the Jordan,

the heights of Hermon, from the hill Mizar.

7 Deep calls to deep at the noise of your waterfalls.

All your waves and your billows have swept over me.

8 GOD[fn] will command his loving kindness in the daytime.

In the night his song shall be with me:

a prayer to the God of my life.

9 I will ask God, my rock, “Why have you forgotten me?

Why do I go mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?”

10 As with a sword in my bones, my adversaries reproach me,

while they continually ask me, “Where is your God?”

11 Why are you in despair, my soul?

Why are you disturbed within me?

Hope in God! For I shall still praise him,

the saving help of my countenance, and my God.

43 Vindicate me, God, and plead my cause against an ungodly nation.

Oh, deliver me from deceitful and wicked men.

2 For you are the God of my strength. Why have you rejected me?

Why do I go mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?

3 Oh, send out your light and your truth.

Let them lead me.

Let them bring me to your holy hill,

to your tents.

4 Then I will go to the altar of God,

to God, my exceeding joy.

I will praise you on the harp, God, my God.

5 Why are you in despair, my soul?

Why are you disturbed within me?

Hope in God!

For I shall still praise him:

my Saviour, my helper, and my God.

For the Chief Musician. By the sons of Korah. A contemplative psalm.

44 We have heard with our ears, God;

our fathers have told us what work you did in their days,

in the days of old.

2 You drove out the nations with your hand,

but you planted them.

You afflicted the peoples,

but you spread them abroad.

3 For they didn’t get the land in possession by their own sword,

neither did their own arm save them;

but your right hand, your arm, and the light of your face,

because you were favourable to them.

4 God, you are my King.

Command victories for Jacob!

5 Through you, we will push down our adversaries.

Through your name, we will tread down those who rise up against us.

6 For I will not trust in my bow,

neither will my sword save me.

7 But you have saved us from our adversaries,

and have shamed those who hate us.

8 In God we have made our boast all day long.

We will give thanks to your name forever. Selah.

9 But now you rejected us, and brought us to dishonour,

and don’t go out with our armies.

10 You make us turn back from the adversary.

Those who hate us take plunder for themselves.

11 You have made us like sheep for food,

and have scattered us amongst the nations.

12 You sell your people for nothing,

and have gained nothing from their sale.

13 You make us a reproach to our neighbours,

a scoffing and a derision to those who are around us.

14 You make us a byword amongst the nations,

a shaking of the head amongst the peoples.

15 All day long my dishonour is before me,

and shame covers my face,

16 at the taunt of one who reproaches and verbally abuses,

because of the enemy and the avenger.

17 All this has come on us,

yet we haven’t forgotten you.

We haven’t been false to your covenant.

18 Our heart has not turned back,

neither have our steps strayed from your path,

19 though you have crushed us in the haunt of jackals,

and covered us with the shadow of death.

20 If we have forgotten the name of our God,

or spread out our hands to a strange god,

21 won’t God search this out?

For he knows the secrets of the heart.

22 Yes, for your sake we are killed all day long.

We are regarded as sheep for the slaughter.

23 Wake up!

Why do you sleep, Lord?[fn]

Arise!

Don’t reject us forever.

24 Why do you hide your face,

and forget our affliction and our oppression?

25 For our soul is bowed down to the dust.

Our body clings to the earth.

26 Rise up to help us.

Redeem us for your loving kindness’ sake.

For the Chief Musician. Set to “The Lilies.” A contemplation by the sons of Korah. A wedding song.

45 My heart overflows with a noble theme.

I recite my verses for the king.

My tongue is like the pen of a skilful writer.

2 You are the most excellent of the sons of men.

Grace has anointed your lips,

therefore God has blessed you forever.

3 Strap your sword on your thigh, O mighty one,

in your splendour and your majesty.

4 In your majesty ride on victoriously on behalf of truth, humility, and righteousness.

Let your right hand display awesome deeds.

5 Your arrows are sharp.

The nations fall under you, with arrows in the heart of the king’s enemies.

6 Your throne, God, is forever and ever.

A sceptre of equity is the sceptre of your kingdom.

7 You have loved righteousness, and hated wickedness.

Therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness above your fellows.

8 All your garments smell like myrrh, aloes, and cassia.

Out of ivory palaces stringed instruments have made you glad.

9 Kings’ daughters are amongst your honourable women.

At your right hand the queen stands in gold of Ophir.

10 Listen, daughter, consider, and turn your ear.

Forget your own people, and also your father’s house.

11 So the king will desire your beauty,

honour him, for he is your lord.

12 The daughter of Tyre comes with a gift.

The rich amongst the people entreat your favour.

13 The princess inside is all glorious.

Her clothing is interwoven with gold.

14 She shall be led to the king in embroidered work.

The virgins, her companions who follow her, shall be brought to you.

15 With gladness and rejoicing they shall be led.

They shall enter into the king’s palace.

16 Your sons will take the place of your fathers.

You shall make them princes in all the earth.

17 I will make your name to be remembered in all generations.

Therefore the peoples shall give you thanks forever and ever.

For the Chief Musician. By the sons of Korah. According to Alamoth.[fn]

46 God is our refuge and strength,

a very present help in trouble.

2 Therefore we won’t be afraid, though the earth changes,

though the mountains are shaken into the heart of the seas;

3 though its waters roar and are troubled,

though the mountains tremble with their swelling. Selah.

4 There is a river, the streams of which make the city of God glad,

the holy place of the tents of the Most High.

5 God is within her. She shall not be moved.

God will help her at dawn.

6 The nations raged. The kingdoms were moved.

He lifted his voice and the earth melted.

7 The LORD of Armies is with us.

The God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah.

8 Come, see the LORD’s works,

what desolations he has made in the earth.

9 He makes wars cease to the end of the earth.

He breaks the bow, and shatters the spear.

He burns the chariots in the fire.

10 “Be still, and know that I am God.

I will be exalted amongst the nations.

I will be exalted in the earth.”

11 The LORD of Armies is with us.

The God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah.

For the Chief Musician. A Psalm by the sons of Korah.

47 Oh clap your hands, all you nations.

Shout to God with the voice of triumph!

2 For the LORD Most High is awesome.

He is a great King over all the earth.

3 He subdues nations under us,

and peoples under our feet.

4 He chooses our inheritance for us,

the glory of Jacob whom he loved. Selah.

5 God has gone up with a shout,

the LORD with the sound of a trumpet.

6 Sing praises to God! Sing praises!

Sing praises to our King! Sing praises!

7 For God is the King of all the earth.

Sing praises with understanding.

8 God reigns over the nations.

God sits on his holy throne.

9 The princes of the peoples are gathered together,

the people of the God of Abraham.

For the shields of the earth belong to God.

He is greatly exalted!

A Song. A Psalm by the sons of Korah.

48 Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised,

in the city of our God, in his holy mountain.

2 Beautiful in elevation, the joy of the whole earth,

is Mount Zion, on the north sides,

the city of the great King.

3 God has shown himself in her citadels as a refuge.

4 For, behold, the kings assembled themselves,

they passed by together.

5 They saw it, then they were amazed.

They were dismayed.

They hurried away.

6 Trembling took hold of them there,

pain, as of a woman in travail.

7 With the east wind, you break the ships of Tarshish.

8 As we have heard, so we have seen,

in the city of the LORD of Armies, in the city of our God.

God will establish it forever. Selah.

9 We have thought about your loving kindness, God,

in the middle of your temple.

10 As is your name, God,

so is your praise to the ends of the earth.

Your right hand is full of righteousness.

11 Let Mount Zion be glad!

Let the daughters of Judah rejoice because of your judgements.

12 Walk about Zion, and go around her.

Number its towers.

13 Notice her bulwarks.

Consider her palaces,

that you may tell it to the next generation.

14 For this God is our God forever and ever.

He will be our guide even to death.

For the Chief Musician. A Psalm by the sons of Korah.

49 Hear this, all you peoples.

Listen, all you inhabitants of the world,

2 both low and high,

rich and poor together.

3 My mouth will speak words of wisdom.

My heart will utter understanding.

4 I will incline my ear to a proverb.

I will solve my riddle on the harp.

5 Why should I fear in the days of evil,

when iniquity at my heels surrounds me?

6 Those who trust in their wealth,

and boast in the multitude of their riches—

7 none of them can by any means redeem his brother,

nor give God a ransom for him.

8 For the redemption of their life is costly,

no payment is ever enough,

9 that he should live on forever,

that he should not see corruption.

10 For he sees that wise men die;

likewise the fool and the senseless perish,

and leave their wealth to others.

11 Their inward thought is that their houses will endure forever,

and their dwelling places to all generations.

They name their lands after themselves.

12 But man, despite his riches, doesn’t endure.

He is like the animals that perish.

13 This is the destiny of those who are foolish,

and of those who approve their sayings. Selah.

14 They are appointed as a flock for Sheol.[fn]

Death shall be their shepherd.

The upright shall have dominion over them in the morning.

Their beauty shall decay in Sheol,[fn]

far from their mansion.

15 But God will redeem my soul from the power of Sheol,[fn]

for he will receive me. Selah.

16 Don’t be afraid when a man is made rich,

when the glory of his house is increased;

17 for when he dies he will carry nothing away.

His glory won’t descend after him.

18 Though while he lived he blessed his soul—

and men praise you when you do well for yourself—

19 he shall go to the generation of his fathers.

They shall never see the light.

20 A man who has riches without understanding,

is like the animals that perish.

A Psalm by Asaph.

50 The Mighty One, God, the LORD, speaks,

and calls the earth from sunrise to sunset.

2 Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty,

God shines out.

3 Our God comes, and does not keep silent.

A fire devours before him.

It is very stormy around him.

4 He calls to the heavens above,

to the earth, that he may judge his people:

5 “Gather my saints together to me,

those who have made a covenant with me by sacrifice.”

6 The heavens shall declare his righteousness,

for God himself is judge. Selah.

7 “Hear, my people, and I will speak.

Israel, I will testify against you.

I am God, your God.

8 I don’t rebuke you for your sacrifices.

Your burnt offerings are continually before me.

9 I have no need for a bull from your stall,

nor male goats from your pens.

10 For every animal of the forest is mine,

and the livestock on a thousand hills.

11 I know all the birds of the mountains.

The wild animals of the field are mine.

12 If I were hungry, I would not tell you,

for the world is mine, and all that is in it.

13 Will I eat the meat of bulls,

or drink the blood of goats?

14 Offer to God the sacrifice of thanksgiving.

Pay your vows to the Most High.

15 Call on me in the day of trouble.

I will deliver you, and you will honour me.”

16 But to the wicked God says,

“What right do you have to declare my statutes,

that you have taken my covenant on your lips,

17 since you hate instruction,

and throw my words behind you?

18 When you saw a thief, you consented with him,

and have participated with adulterers.

19 “You give your mouth to evil.

Your tongue frames deceit.

20 You sit and speak against your brother.

You slander your own mother’s son.

21 You have done these things, and I kept silent.

You thought that I was just like you.

I will rebuke you, and accuse you in front of your eyes.

22 “Now consider this, you who forget God,

lest I tear you into pieces, and there be no one to deliver.

23 Whoever offers the sacrifice of thanksgiving glorifies me,

and prepares his way so that I will show God’s salvation to him.”

For the Chief Musician. A Psalm by David, when Nathan the prophet came to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba.

51 Have mercy on me, God, according to your loving kindness.

According to the multitude of your tender mercies, blot out my transgressions.

2 Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity.

Cleanse me from my sin.

3 For I know my transgressions.

My sin is constantly before me.

4 Against you, and you only, I have sinned,

and done that which is evil in your sight,

so you may be proved right when you speak,

and justified when you judge.

5 Behold, I was born in iniquity.

My mother conceived me in sin.

6 Behold, you desire truth in the inward parts.

You teach me wisdom in the inmost place.

7 Purify me with hyssop, and I will be clean.

Wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.

8 Let me hear joy and gladness,

that the bones which you have broken may rejoice.

9 Hide your face from my sins,

and blot out all of my iniquities.

10 Create in me a clean heart, O God.

Renew a right spirit within me.

11 Don’t throw me from your presence,

and don’t take your Holy Spirit from me.

12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation.

Uphold me with a willing spirit.

13 Then I will teach transgressors your ways.

Sinners will be converted to you.

14 Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God, the God of my salvation.

My tongue will sing aloud of your righteousness.

15 Lord, open my lips.

My mouth will declare your praise.

16 For you don’t delight in sacrifice, or else I would give it.

You have no pleasure in burnt offering.

17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit.

O God, you will not despise a broken and contrite heart.

18 Do well in your good pleasure to Zion.

Build the walls of Jerusalem.

19 Then you will delight in the sacrifices of righteousness,

in burnt offerings and in whole burnt offerings.

Then they will offer bulls on your altar.

For the Chief Musician. A contemplation by David, when Doeg the Edomite came and told Saul, “David has come to Ahimelech’s house.”

52 Why do you boast of mischief, mighty man?

God’s loving kindness endures continually.

2 Your tongue plots destruction,

like a sharp razor, working deceitfully.

3 You love evil more than good,

lying rather than speaking the truth. Selah.

4 You love all devouring words,

you deceitful tongue.

5 God will likewise destroy you forever.

He will take you up, and pluck you out of your tent,

and root you out of the land of the living. Selah.

6 The righteous also will see it, and fear,

and laugh at him, saying,

7 “Behold, this is the man who didn’t make God his strength,

but trusted in the abundance of his riches,

and strengthened himself in his wickedness.”

8 But as for me, I am like a green olive tree in God’s house.

I trust in God’s loving kindness forever and ever.

9 I will give you thanks forever, because you have done it.

I will hope in your name, for it is good,

in the presence of your saints.

For the Chief Musician. To the tune of “Mahalath.” A contemplation by David.

53 The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God.”

They are corrupt, and have done abominable iniquity.

There is no one who does good.

2 God looks down from heaven on the children of men,

to see if there are any who understood,

who seek after God.

3 Every one of them has gone back.

They have become filthy together.

There is no one who does good, no, not one.

4 Have the workers of iniquity no knowledge,

who eat up my people as they eat bread,

and don’t call on God?

5 There they were in great fear, where no fear was,

for God has scattered the bones of him who encamps against you.

You have put them to shame,

because God has rejected them.

6 Oh that the salvation of Israel would come out of Zion!

When God brings back his people from captivity,

then Jacob shall rejoice,

and Israel shall be glad.

For the Chief Musician. On stringed instruments. A contemplation by David, when the Ziphites came and said to Saul, “Isn’t David hiding himself amongst us?”

54 Save me, God, by your name.

Vindicate me in your might.

2 Hear my prayer, God.

Listen to the words of my mouth.

3 For strangers have risen up against me.

Violent men have sought after my soul.

They haven’t set God before them. Selah.

4 Behold, God is my helper.

The Lord is the one who sustains my soul.

5 He will repay the evil to my enemies.

Destroy them in your truth.

6 With a free will offering, I will sacrifice to you.

I will give thanks to your name, LORD, for it is good.

7 For he has delivered me out of all trouble.

My eye has seen triumph over my enemies.

For the Chief Musician. On stringed instruments. A contemplation by David.

55 Listen to my prayer, God.

Don’t hide yourself from my supplication.

2 Attend to me, and answer me.

I am restless in my complaint,

and moan 3 because of the voice of the enemy,

because of the oppression of the wicked.

For they bring suffering on me.

In anger they hold a grudge against me.

4 My heart is severely pained within me.

The terrors of death have fallen on me.

5 Fearfulness and trembling have come on me.

Horror has overwhelmed me.

6 I said, “Oh that I had wings like a dove!

Then I would fly away, and be at rest.

7 Behold, then I would wander far off.

I would lodge in the wilderness.” Selah.

8 “I would hurry to a shelter from the stormy wind and storm.”

9 Confuse them, Lord, and confound their language,

for I have seen violence and strife in the city.

10 Day and night they prowl around on its walls.

Malice and abuse are also within her.

11 Destructive forces are within her.

Threats and lies don’t depart from her streets.

12 For it was not an enemy who insulted me,

then I could have endured it.

Neither was it he who hated me who raised himself up against me,

then I would have hidden myself from him.

13 But it was you, a man like me,

my companion, and my familiar friend.

14 We took sweet fellowship together.

We walked in God’s house with company.

15 Let death come suddenly on them.

Let them go down alive into Sheol.[fn]

For wickedness is amongst them, in their dwelling.

16 As for me, I will call on God.

The LORD will save me.

17 Evening, morning, and at noon, I will cry out in distress.

He will hear my voice.

18 He has redeemed my soul in peace from the battle that was against me,

although there are many who oppose me.

19 God, who is enthroned forever,

will hear and answer them. Selah.

They never change

and don’t fear God.

20 He raises his hands against his friends.

He has violated his covenant.

21 His mouth was smooth as butter,

but his heart was war.

His words were softer than oil,

yet they were drawn swords.

22 Cast your burden on the LORD and he will sustain you.

He will never allow the righteous to be moved.

23 But you, God, will bring them down into the pit of destruction.

Bloodthirsty and deceitful men shall not live out half their days,

but I will trust in you.

For the Chief Musician. To the tune of “Silent Dove in Distant Lands.” A poem by David, when the Philistines seized him in Gath.

56 Be merciful to me, God, for man wants to swallow me up.

All day long, he attacks and oppresses me.

2 My enemies want to swallow me up all day long,

for they are many who fight proudly against me.

3 When I am afraid,

I will put my trust in you.

4 In God, I praise his word.

In God, I put my trust.

I will not be afraid.

What can flesh do to me?

5 All day long they twist my words.

All their thoughts are against me for evil.

6 They conspire and lurk,

watching my steps.

They are eager to take my life.

7 Shall they escape by iniquity?

In anger cast down the peoples, God.

8 You count my wanderings.

You put my tears into your container.

Aren’t they in your book?

9 Then my enemies shall turn back in the day that I call.

I know this: that God is for me.

10 In God, I will praise his word.

In the LORD, I will praise his word.

11 I have put my trust in God.

I will not be afraid.

What can man do to me?

12 Your vows are on me, God.

I will give thank offerings to you.

13 For you have delivered my soul from death,

and prevented my feet from falling,

that I may walk before God in the light of the living.

For the Chief Musician. To the tune of “Do Not Destroy.” A poem by David, when he fled from Saul, in the cave.

57 Be merciful to me, God, be merciful to me,

for my soul takes refuge in you.

Yes, in the shadow of your wings, I will take refuge,

until disaster has passed.

2 I cry out to God Most High,

to God who accomplishes my requests for me.

3 He will send from heaven, and save me,

he rebukes the one who is pursuing me. Selah.

God will send out his loving kindness and his truth.

4 My soul is amongst lions.

I lie amongst those who are set on fire,

even the sons of men, whose teeth are spears and arrows,

and their tongue a sharp sword.

5 Be exalted, God, above the heavens!

Let your glory be above all the earth!

6 They have prepared a net for my steps.

My soul is bowed down.

They dig a pit before me.

They fall into the middle of it themselves. Selah.

7 My heart is steadfast, God.

My heart is steadfast.

I will sing, yes, I will sing praises.

8 Wake up, my glory! Wake up, lute and harp!

I will wake up the dawn.

9 I will give thanks to you, Lord, amongst the peoples.

I will sing praises to you amongst the nations.

10 For your great loving kindness reaches to the heavens,

and your truth to the skies.

11 Be exalted, God, above the heavens.

Let your glory be over all the earth.

For the Chief Musician. To the tune of “Do Not Destroy.” A poem by David.

58 Do you indeed speak righteousness, silent ones?

Do you judge blamelessly, you sons of men?

2 No, in your heart you plot injustice.

You measure out the violence of your hands in the earth.

3 The wicked go astray from the womb.

They are wayward as soon as they are born, speaking lies.

4 Their poison is like the poison of a snake,

like a deaf cobra that stops its ear,

5 which doesn’t listen to the voice of charmers,

no matter how skilful the charmer may be.

6 Break their teeth, God, in their mouth.

Break out the great teeth of the young lions, LORD.

7 Let them vanish like water that flows away.

When they draw the bow, let their arrows be made blunt.

8 Let them be like a snail which melts and passes away,

like the stillborn child, who has not seen the sun.

9 Before your pots can feel the heat of the thorns,

he will sweep away the green and the burning alike.

10 The righteous shall rejoice when he sees the vengeance.

He shall wash his feet in the blood of the wicked,

11 so that men shall say, “Most certainly there is a reward for the righteous.

Most certainly there is a God who judges the earth.”

For the Chief Musician. To the tune of “Do Not Destroy.” A poem by David, when Saul sent, and they watched the house to kill him.

59 Deliver me from my enemies, my God.

Set me on high from those who rise up against me.

2 Deliver me from the workers of iniquity.

Save me from the bloodthirsty men.

3 For, behold, they lie in wait for my soul.

The mighty gather themselves together against me,

not for my disobedience, nor for my sin, LORD.

4 I have done no wrong, yet they are ready to attack me.

Rise up, behold, and help me!

5 You, LORD God of Armies, the God of Israel,

rouse yourself to punish the nations.

Show no mercy to the wicked traitors. Selah.

6 They return at evening, howling like dogs,

and prowl around the city.

7 Behold, they spew with their mouth.

Swords are in their lips,

“For”, they say, “who hears us?”

8 But you, LORD, laugh at them.

You scoff at all the nations.

9 Oh, my Strength, I watch for you,

for God is my high tower.

10 My God will go before me with his loving kindness.

God will let me look at my enemies in triumph.

11 Don’t kill them, or my people may forget.

Scatter them by your power, and bring them down, Lord our shield.

12 For the sin of their mouth, and the words of their lips,

let them be caught in their pride,

for the curses and lies which they utter.

13 Consume them in wrath.

Consume them, and they will be no more.

Let them know that God rules in Jacob,

to the ends of the earth. Selah.

14 At evening let them return.

Let them howl like a dog, and go around the city.

15 They shall wander up and down for food,

and wait all night if they aren’t satisfied.

16 But I will sing of your strength.

Yes, I will sing aloud of your loving kindness in the morning.

For you have been my high tower,

a refuge in the day of my distress.

17 To you, my strength, I will sing praises.

For God is my high tower, the God of my mercy.

For the Chief Musician. To the tune of “The Lily of the Covenant.” A teaching poem by David, when he fought with Aram Naharaim and with Aram Zobah, and Joab returned, and killed twelve thousand of Edom in the Valley of Salt.

60 God, you have rejected us.

You have broken us down.

You have been angry.

Restore us, again.

2 You have made the land tremble.

You have torn it.

Mend its fractures,

for it quakes.

3 You have shown your people hard things.

You have made us drink the wine that makes us stagger.

4 You have given a banner to those who fear you,

that it may be displayed because of the truth. Selah.

5 So that your beloved may be delivered,

save with your right hand, and answer us.

6 God has spoken from his sanctuary:

“I will triumph.

I will divide Shechem,

and measure out the valley of Succoth.

7 Gilead is mine, and Manasseh is mine.

Ephraim also is the defence of my head.

Judah is my sceptre.

8 Moab is my wash basin.

I will throw my sandal on Edom.

I shout in triumph over Philistia.”

9 Who will bring me into the strong city?

Who has led me to Edom?

10 Haven’t you, God, rejected us?

You don’t go out with our armies, God.

11 Give us help against the adversary,

for the help of man is vain.

12 Through God we will do valiantly,

for it is he who will tread down our adversaries.

For the Chief Musician. For a stringed instrument. By David.

61 Hear my cry, God.

Listen to my prayer.

2 From the end of the earth, I will call to you when my heart is overwhelmed.

Lead me to the rock that is higher than I.

3 For you have been a refuge for me,

a strong tower from the enemy.

4 I will dwell in your tent forever.

I will take refuge in the shelter of your wings. Selah.

5 For you, God, have heard my vows.

You have given me the heritage of those who fear your name.

6 You will prolong the king’s life.

His years will be for generations.

7 He shall be enthroned in God’s presence forever.

Appoint your loving kindness and truth, that they may preserve him.

8 So I will sing praise to your name forever,

that I may fulfil my vows daily.

For the Chief Musician. To Jeduthun. A Psalm by David.

62 My soul rests in God alone.

My salvation is from him.

2 He alone is my rock, my salvation, and my fortress.

I will never be greatly shaken.

3 How long will you assault a man?

Would all of you throw him down,

like a leaning wall, like a tottering fence?

4 They fully intend to throw him down from his lofty place.

They delight in lies.

They bless with their mouth, but they curse inwardly. Selah.

5 My soul, wait in silence for God alone,

for my expectation is from him.

6 He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress.

I will not be shaken.

7 My salvation and my honour is with God.

The rock of my strength, and my refuge, is in God.

8 Trust in him at all times, you people.

Pour out your heart before him.

God is a refuge for us. Selah.

9 Surely men of low degree are just a breath,

and men of high degree are a lie.

In the balances they will go up.

They are together lighter than a breath.

10 Don’t trust in oppression.

Don’t become vain in robbery.

If riches increase,

don’t set your heart on them.

11 God has spoken once;

twice I have heard this,

that power belongs to God.

12 Also to you, Lord, belongs loving kindness,

for you reward every man according to his work.

A Psalm by David, when he was in the desert of Judah.

63 God, you are my God.

I will earnestly seek you.

My soul thirsts for you.

My flesh longs for you,

in a dry and weary land, where there is no water.

2 So I have seen you in the sanctuary,

watching your power and your glory.

3 Because your loving kindness is better than life,

my lips shall praise you.

4 So I will bless you while I live.

I will lift up my hands in your name.

5 My soul shall be satisfied as with the richest food.

My mouth shall praise you with joyful lips,

6 when I remember you on my bed,

and think about you in the night watches.

7 For you have been my help.

I will rejoice in the shadow of your wings.

8 My soul stays close to you.

Your right hand holds me up.

9 But those who seek my soul to destroy it

shall go into the lower parts of the earth.

10 They shall be given over to the power of the sword.

They shall be jackal food.

11 But the king shall rejoice in God.

Everyone who swears by him will praise him,

for the mouth of those who speak lies shall be silenced.

For the Chief Musician. A Psalm by David.

64 Hear my voice, God, in my complaint.

Preserve my life from fear of the enemy.

2 Hide me from the conspiracy of the wicked,

from the noisy crowd of the ones doing evil;

3 who sharpen their tongue like a sword,

and aim their arrows, deadly words,

4 to shoot innocent men from ambushes.

They shoot at him suddenly and fearlessly.

5 They encourage themselves in evil plans.

They talk about laying snares secretly.

They say, “Who will see them?”

6 They plot injustice, saying, “We have made a perfect plan!”

Surely man’s mind and heart are cunning.

7 But God will shoot at them.

They will be suddenly struck down with an arrow.

8 Their own tongues shall ruin them.

All who see them will shake their heads.

9 All mankind shall be afraid.

They shall declare the work of God,

and shall wisely ponder what he has done.

10 The righteous shall be glad in the LORD,

and shall take refuge in him.

All the upright in heart shall praise him!

For the Chief Musician. A Psalm by David. A song.

65 Praise waits for you, God, in Zion.

Vows shall be performed to you.

2 You who hear prayer,

all men will come to you.

3 Sins overwhelmed me,

but you atoned for our transgressions.

4 Blessed is the one whom you choose and cause to come near,

that he may live in your courts.

We will be filled with the goodness of your house,

your holy temple.

5 By awesome deeds of righteousness, you answer us,

God of our salvation.

You who are the hope of all the ends of the earth,

of those who are far away on the sea.

6 By your power, you form the mountains,

having armed yourself with strength.

7 You still the roaring of the seas,

the roaring of their waves,

and the turmoil of the nations.

8 They also who dwell in faraway places are afraid at your wonders.

You call the morning’s dawn and the evening with songs of joy.

9 You visit the earth, and water it.

You greatly enrich it.

The river of God is full of water.

You provide them grain, for so you have ordained it.

10 You drench its furrows.

You level its ridges.

You soften it with showers.

You bless it with a crop.

11 You crown the year with your bounty.

Your carts overflow with abundance.

12 The wilderness grasslands overflow.

The hills are clothed with gladness.

13 The pastures are covered with flocks.

The valleys also are clothed with grain.

They shout for joy!

They also sing.

For the Chief Musician. A song. A Psalm.

66 Make a joyful shout to God, all the earth!

2 Sing to the glory of his name!

Offer glory and praise!

3 Tell God, “How awesome are your deeds!

Through the greatness of your power, your enemies submit themselves to you.

4 All the earth will worship you,

and will sing to you;

they will sing to your name.” Selah.

5 Come, and see God’s deeds—

awesome work on behalf of the children of men.

6 He turned the sea into dry land.

They went through the river on foot.

There, we rejoiced in him.

7 He rules by his might forever.

His eyes watch the nations.

Don’t let the rebellious rise up against him. Selah.

8 Praise our God, you peoples!

Make the sound of his praise heard,

9 who preserves our life amongst the living,

and doesn’t allow our feet to be moved.

10 For you, God, have tested us.

You have refined us, as silver is refined.

11 You brought us into prison.

You laid a burden on our backs.

12 You allowed men to ride over our heads.

We went through fire and through water,

but you brought us to the place of abundance.

13 I will come into your temple with burnt offerings.

I will pay my vows to you, 14 which my lips promised,

and my mouth spoke, when I was in distress.

15 I will offer to you burnt offerings of fat animals,

with the offering of rams,

I will offer bulls with goats. Selah.

16 Come and hear, all you who fear God.

I will declare what he has done for my soul.

17 I cried to him with my mouth.

He was extolled with my tongue.

18 If I cherished sin in my heart,

the Lord wouldn’t have listened.

19 But most certainly, God has listened.

He has heard the voice of my prayer.

20 Blessed be God, who has not turned away my prayer,

nor his loving kindness from me.

For the Chief Musician. With stringed instruments. A Psalm. A song.

67 May God be merciful to us, bless us,

and cause his face to shine on us. Selah.

2 That your way may be known on earth,

and your salvation amongst all nations,

3 let the peoples praise you, God.

Let all the peoples praise you.

4 Oh let the nations be glad and sing for joy,

for you will judge the peoples with equity,

and govern the nations on earth. Selah.

5 Let the peoples praise you, God.

Let all the peoples praise you.

6 The earth has yielded its increase.

God, even our own God, will bless us.

7 God will bless us.

All the ends of the earth shall fear him.

For the Chief Musician. A Psalm by David. A song.

68 Let God arise!

Let his enemies be scattered!

Let them who hate him also flee before him.

2 As smoke is driven away,

so drive them away.

As wax melts before the fire,

so let the wicked perish at the presence of God.

3 But let the righteous be glad.

Let them rejoice before God.

Yes, let them rejoice with gladness.

4 Sing to God! Sing praises to his name!

Extol him who rides on the clouds:

to the LORD,[fn] his name!

Rejoice before him!

5 A father of the fatherless, and a defender of the widows,

is God in his holy habitation.

6 God sets the lonely in families.

He brings out the prisoners with singing,

but the rebellious dwell in a sun-scorched land.

7 God, when you went out before your people,

when you marched through the wilderness... Selah.

8 The earth trembled.

The sky also poured down rain at the presence of the God of Sinai—

at the presence of God, the God of Israel.

9 You, God, sent a plentiful rain.

You confirmed your inheritance when it was weary.

10 Your congregation lived therein.

You, God, prepared your goodness for the poor.

11 The Lord announced the word.

The ones who proclaim it are a great company.

12 “Kings of armies flee! They flee!”

She who waits at home divides the plunder,

13 while you sleep amongst the camp fires,

the wings of a dove sheathed with silver,

her feathers with shining gold.

14 When the Almighty scattered kings in her,

it snowed on Zalmon.

15 The mountains of Bashan are majestic mountains.

The mountains of Bashan are rugged.

16 Why do you look in envy, you rugged mountains,

at the mountain where God chooses to reign?

Yes, the LORD[fn] will dwell there forever.

17 The chariots of God are tens of thousands and thousands of thousands.

The Lord is amongst them, from Sinai, into the sanctuary.

18 You have ascended on high.

You have led away captives.

You have received gifts amongst people,

yes, amongst the rebellious also, that the LORD[fn] God might dwell there.

19 Blessed be the Lord, who daily bears our burdens,

even the God who is our salvation. Selah.

20 God is to us a God of deliverance.

To GOD,[fn] the Lord, belongs escape from death.

21 But God will strike through the head of his enemies,

the hairy scalp of such a one as still continues in his guiltiness.

22 The Lord said, “I will bring you again from Bashan,

I will bring you again from the depths of the sea,

23 that you may crush them, dipping your foot in blood,

that the tongues of your dogs may have their portion from your enemies.”

24 They have seen your processions, God,

even the processions of my God, my King, into the sanctuary.

25 The singers went before, the minstrels followed after,

amongst the ladies playing with tambourines,

26 “Bless God in the congregations,

even the Lord in the assembly of Israel!”

27 There is little Benjamin, their ruler,

the princes of Judah, their council,

the princes of Zebulun, and the princes of Naphtali.

28 Your God has commanded your strength.

Strengthen, God, that which you have done for us.

29 Because of your temple at Jerusalem,

kings shall bring presents to you.

30 Rebuke the wild animal of the reeds,

the multitude of the bulls with the calves of the peoples.

Trample under foot the bars of silver.

Scatter the nations who delight in war.

31 Princes shall come out of Egypt.

Ethiopia shall hurry to stretch out her hands to God.

32 Sing to God, you kingdoms of the earth!

Sing praises to the Lord—Selah—

33 to him who rides on the heaven of heavens, which are of old;

behold, he utters his voice, a mighty voice.

34 Ascribe strength to God!

His excellency is over Israel,

his strength is in the skies.

35 You are awesome, God, in your sanctuaries.

The God of Israel gives strength and power to his people.

Praise be to God!

For the Chief Musician. To the tune of “Lilies.” By David.

69 Save me, God,

for the waters have come up to my neck!

2 I sink in deep mire, where there is no foothold.

I have come into deep waters, where the floods overflow me.

3 I am weary with my crying.

My throat is dry.

My eyes fail looking for my God.

4 Those who hate me without a cause are more than the hairs of my head.

Those who want to cut me off, being my enemies wrongfully, are mighty.

I have to restore what I didn’t take away.

5 God, you know my foolishness.

My sins aren’t hidden from you.

6 Don’t let those who wait for you be shamed through me, Lord GOD of Armies.

Don’t let those who seek you be brought to dishonour through me, God of Israel.

7 Because for your sake, I have borne reproach.

Shame has covered my face.

8 I have become a stranger to my brothers,

an alien to my mother’s children.

9 For the zeal of your house consumes me.

The reproaches of those who reproach you have fallen on me.

10 When I wept and I fasted,

that was to my reproach.

11 When I made sackcloth my clothing,

I became a byword to them.

12 Those who sit in the gate talk about me.

I am the song of the drunkards.

13 But as for me, my prayer is to you, LORD, in an acceptable time.

God, in the abundance of your loving kindness, answer me in the truth of your salvation.

14 Deliver me out of the mire, and don’t let me sink.

Let me be delivered from those who hate me, and out of the deep waters.

15 Don’t let the flood waters overwhelm me,

neither let the deep swallow me up.

Don’t let the pit shut its mouth on me.

16 Answer me, LORD, for your loving kindness is good.

According to the multitude of your tender mercies, turn to me.

17 Don’t hide your face from your servant,

for I am in distress.

Answer me speedily!

18 Draw near to my soul and redeem it.

Ransom me because of my enemies.

19 You know my reproach, my shame, and my dishonour.

My adversaries are all before you.

20 Reproach has broken my heart, and I am full of heaviness.

I looked for some to take pity, but there was none;

for comforters, but I found none.

21 They also gave me poison for my food.

In my thirst, they gave me vinegar to drink.

22 Let their table before them become a snare.

May it become a retribution and a trap.

23 Let their eyes be darkened, so that they can’t see.

Let their backs be continually bent.

24 Pour out your indignation on them.

Let the fierceness of your anger overtake them.

25 Let their habitation be desolate.

Let no one dwell in their tents.

26 For they persecute him whom you have wounded.

They tell of the sorrow of those whom you have hurt.

27 Charge them with crime upon crime.

Don’t let them come into your righteousness.

28 Let them be blotted out of the book of life,

and not be written with the righteous.

29 But I am in pain and distress.

Let your salvation, God, protect me.

30 I will praise the name of God with a song,

and will magnify him with thanksgiving.

31 It will please the LORD better than an ox,

or a bull that has horns and hoofs.

32 The humble have seen it, and are glad.

You who seek after God, let your heart live.

33 For the LORD hears the needy,

and doesn’t despise his captive people.

34 Let heaven and earth praise him;

the seas, and everything that moves therein!

35 For God will save Zion, and build the cities of Judah.

They shall settle there, and own it.

36 The children also of his servants shall inherit it.

Those who love his name shall dwell therein.

For the Chief Musician. By David. A reminder.

70 Hurry, God, to deliver me.

Come quickly to help me, LORD.

2 Let them be disappointed and confounded who seek my soul.

Let those who desire my ruin be turned back in disgrace.

3 Let them be turned because of their shame

who say, “Aha! Aha!”

4 Let all those who seek you rejoice and be glad in you.

Let those who love your salvation continually say,

“Let God be exalted!”

5 But I am poor and needy.

Come to me quickly, God.

You are my help and my deliverer.

LORD, don’t delay.

71 In you, LORD, I take refuge.

Never let me be disappointed.

2 Deliver me in your righteousness, and rescue me.

Turn your ear to me, and save me.

3 Be to me a rock of refuge to which I may always go.

Give the command to save me,

for you are my rock and my fortress.

4 Rescue me, my God, from the hand of the wicked,

from the hand of the unrighteous and cruel man.

5 For you are my hope, Lord GOD,

my confidence from my youth.

6 I have relied on you from the womb.

You are he who took me out of my mother’s womb.

I will always praise you.

7 I am a marvel to many,

but you are my strong refuge.

8 My mouth shall be filled with your praise,

with your honour all day long.

9 Don’t reject me in my old age.

Don’t forsake me when my strength fails.

10 For my enemies talk about me.

Those who watch for my soul conspire together,

11 saying, “God has forsaken him.

Pursue and take him, for no one will rescue him.”

12 God, don’t be far from me.

My God, hurry to help me.

13 Let my accusers be disappointed and consumed.

Let them be covered with disgrace and scorn who want to harm me.

14 But I will always hope,

and will add to all of your praise.

15 My mouth will tell about your righteousness,

and of your salvation all day,

though I don’t know its full measure.

16 I will come with the mighty acts of the Lord GOD.

I will make mention of your righteousness, even of yours alone.

17 God, you have taught me from my youth.

Until now, I have declared your wondrous works.

18 Yes, even when I am old and grey-haired, God, don’t forsake me,

until I have declared your strength to the next generation,

your might to everyone who is to come.

19 God, your righteousness also reaches to the heavens.

You have done great things.

God, who is like you?

20 You, who have shown us many and bitter troubles,

you will let me live.

You will bring us up again from the depths of the earth.

21 Increase my honour

and comfort me again.

22 I will also praise you with the harp for your faithfulness, my God.

I sing praises to you with the lyre, Holy One of Israel.

23 My lips shall shout for joy!

My soul, which you have redeemed, sings praises to you!

24 My tongue will also talk about your righteousness all day long,

for they are disappointed, and they are confounded,

who want to harm me.

By Solomon.

72 God, give the king your justice;

your righteousness to the royal son.

2 He will judge your people with righteousness,

and your poor with justice.

3 The mountains shall bring prosperity to the people.

The hills bring the fruit of righteousness.

4 He will judge the poor of the people.

He will save the children of the needy,

and will break the oppressor in pieces.

5 They shall fear you while the sun endures;

and as long as the moon, throughout all generations.

6 He will come down like rain on the mown grass,

as showers that water the earth.

7 In his days, the righteous shall flourish,

and abundance of peace, until the moon is no more.

8 He shall have dominion also from sea to sea,

from the River to the ends of the earth.

9 Those who dwell in the wilderness shall bow before him.

His enemies shall lick the dust.

10 The kings of Tarshish and of the islands will bring tribute.

The kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer gifts.

11 Yes, all kings shall fall down before him.

All nations shall serve him.

12 For he will deliver the needy when he cries;

the poor, who has no helper.

13 He will have pity on the poor and needy.

He will save the souls of the needy.

14 He will redeem their soul from oppression and violence.

Their blood will be precious in his sight.

15 He will live; and Sheba’s gold will be given to him.

Men will pray for him continually.

They will bless him all day long.

16 Abundance of grain shall be throughout the land.

Its fruit sways like Lebanon.

Let it flourish, thriving like the grass of the field.

17 His name endures forever.

His name continues as long as the sun.

Men shall be blessed by him.

All nations will call him blessed.

18 Praise be to the LORD God, the God of Israel,

who alone does marvellous deeds.

19 Blessed be his glorious name forever!

Let the whole earth be filled with his glory!

Amen and amen.

20 This ends the prayers by David, the son of Jesse.

BOOK 3

A Psalm by Asaph.

73 Surely God[fn] is good to Israel,

to those who are pure in heart.

2 But as for me, my feet were almost gone.

My steps had nearly slipped.

3 For I was envious of the arrogant,

when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.

4 For there are no struggles in their death,

but their strength is firm.

5 They are free from burdens of men,

neither are they plagued like other men.

6 Therefore pride is like a chain around their neck.

Violence covers them like a garment.

7 Their eyes bulge with fat.

Their minds pass the limits of conceit.

8 They scoff and speak with malice.

In arrogance, they threaten oppression.

9 They have set their mouth in the heavens.

Their tongue walks through the earth.

10 Therefore their people return to them,

and they drink up waters of abundance.

11 They say, “How does God know?

Is there knowledge in the Most High?”

12 Behold, these are the wicked.

Being always at ease, they increase in riches.

13 Surely I have cleansed my heart in vain,

and washed my hands in innocence,

14 For all day long I have been plagued,

and punished every morning.

15 If I had said, “I will speak thus”,

behold, I would have betrayed the generation of your children.

16 When I tried to understand this,

it was too painful for me—

17 until I entered God’s sanctuary,

and considered their latter end.

18 Surely you set them in slippery places.

You throw them down to destruction.

19 How they are suddenly destroyed!

They are completely swept away with terrors.

20 As a dream when one wakes up,

so, Lord,[fn] when you awake, you will despise their fantasies.

21 For my soul was grieved.

I was embittered in my heart.

22 I was so senseless and ignorant.

I was a brute beast before you.

23 Nevertheless, I am continually with you.

You have held my right hand.

24 You will guide me with your counsel,

and afterward receive me to glory.

25 Whom do I have in heaven?

There is no one on earth whom I desire besides you.

26 My flesh and my heart fails,

but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.

27 For, behold, those who are far from you shall perish.

You have destroyed all those who are unfaithful to you.

28 But it is good for me to come close to God.

I have made the Lord GOD[fn] my refuge,

that I may tell of all your works.

A contemplation by Asaph.

74 God, why have you rejected us forever?

Why does your anger smoulder against the sheep of your pasture?

2 Remember your congregation, which you purchased of old,

which you have redeemed to be the tribe of your inheritance:

Mount Zion, in which you have lived.

3 Lift up your feet to the perpetual ruins,

all the evil that the enemy has done in the sanctuary.

4 Your adversaries have roared in the middle of your assembly.

They have set up their standards as signs.

5 They behaved like men wielding axes,

cutting through a thicket of trees.

6 Now they break all its carved work down with hatchet and hammers.

7 They have burnt your sanctuary to the ground.

They have profaned the dwelling place of your Name.

8 They said in their heart, “We will crush them completely.”

They have burnt up all the places in the land where God was worshipped.

9 We see no miraculous signs.

There is no longer any prophet,

neither is there amongst us anyone who knows how long.

10 How long, God, shall the adversary reproach?

Shall the enemy blaspheme your name forever?

11 Why do you draw back your hand, even your right hand?

Take it from your chest and consume them!

12 Yet God is my King of old,

working salvation throughout the earth.

13 You divided the sea by your strength.

You broke the heads of the sea monsters in the waters.

14 You broke the heads of Leviathan in pieces.

You gave him as food to people and desert creatures.

15 You opened up spring and stream.

You dried up mighty rivers.

16 The day is yours, the night is also yours.

You have prepared the light and the sun.

17 You have set all the boundaries of the earth.

You have made summer and winter.

18 Remember this, that the enemy has mocked you, LORD.

Foolish people have blasphemed your name.

19 Don’t deliver the soul of your dove to wild beasts.

Don’t forget the life of your poor forever.

20 Honour your covenant,

for haunts of violence fill the dark places of the earth.